Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts led the charge of Black quarterbacks in the NFL Playoffs over the weekend, while Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes — who defeated Hurts in the first Super Bowl matchup between Black quarterbacks in Super Bowl LVII two years ago to win his third Super Bowl championship — rested at home. Mahomes will face yet another Black quarterback, CJ Stroud, and the Houston Texans on Jan. 18 in the divisional playoffs round. In total, that makes seven quarterbacks: Hurts, Mahomes, Stroud, Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, who is a two-time NFL MVP; Russell Wilson of the Pittsburgh Steelers; Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers; and NFL rookie Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders. Together, they lead seven — or 50 percent — of the NFL Playoffs teams.
In arguably the best game of the weekend, Daniels led Washington to a 23-20 upset win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida Jan 12. Daniels was 24-35 and threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns in the game. Daniels became only the fourth NFL quarterback to lead a team to victory on the road, joining Wilson, Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco. Daniels will attempt to repeat the historic feat as Washington will play the team with the best record in the NFC, the Detroit Lions, on Jan. 18 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Stroud was 22-33 for 282 yards with one touchdown and one interception. However, the Houston defense forced four interceptions, thanks to Los Angeles Chargers signal caller Justin Herbert, leading to the 32-12 victory.
Jackson and the Ravens ran the ball for 299 yards — the seventh most in NFL history, and they eliminated Wilson and the Steelers 28-14 on Jan 11.
In the second and final matchup of Black quarterbacks over the weekend, the Philadelphia defense forced Love into three interceptions, and the Eagles cruised to a 22-10 win.
The Buffalo Bills defeated the Denver Broncos 31-7 in other NFL action, and the Minnesota Vikings faced the Los Angeles Rams in Glendale, Arizona, in a game moved due to the raging California fires.
One Black head coach remains in the NFL Playoffs: Houston’s head coach, DeMeco Ryans.
